Latest Auto Headlines
All the headlines from our Auto Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Downgrade of Calif. Auto Company Results from Reinsurance Broker Error
Apr 1 2005 // Effective immediately, AM Best has downgraded Workmen’s Auto Insurance Company from a B++ to a B(u), citing the company’s drop in surplus as the main reason for the downgrade. The company has filed a lawsuit...
Del. Cracks Down on Auto Insurance Fraud
Apr 1 2005 // Delaware Insurance Commissioner Matt Denn has initiated a crackdown by his department on auto insurance fraud. Denn announced several policy changes in the way auto insurance fraud cases are handled, including makeing them...
Fla. Supreme Court Upholds 30-day Deadline for Doctors to File Auto Policy No-Fault Claims
Apr 1 2005 // A State Farm customer and his doctor, who challenged a 30-day deadline for doctors to file claims on a patient’s no-fault auto policy, have lost their claim in the Florida Supreme Court that the provision is...
One Person’s Slightly Used Auto Insurance Policy is Another Person’s … Treasure?
Apr 1 2005 // Who can forget the way the policy for that ’76 Gremlin smelled? How about those deductibles from that Merkur policy? Sure, they don’t make the car any longer, but that’s what makes the policy valuable!...
N.C. DOI Disputes 11.5 Auto Rate Request; Long Sets Hearing in September
Mar 31 2005 // Insurance Commissioner Jim Long has announced plans for a hearing on auto insurance rates in September. This announcement comes after the North Carolina Rate Bureau, an independent organization that represents all auto...
Calif. Consumer Advocate Rosenfield Urges Mass. to Repeal No-Fault, Make Other Auto Changes
Mar 29 2005 // Massachusetts should repeal its no-fault law, end its reliance on uniform state-set rates, and remove the state antitrust exemption for auto insurers if it wants to improve its auto insurance system for consumers. That...
Calif. Insurance Critic to Take On Mass. Auto
Mar 28 2005 // Nationally recognized insurance reformer and Massachusetts native Harvey Rosenfield will return to his home state Tuesday, March 29 to unveil a report he says shows how much more Massachusetts drivers pay for auto...
Mich. DOI Study Finds Competition Doesn’t Equal Affordability; Insurers Say Losses Driving Rates
Mar 24 2005 // Michigan’s Office of Financial and Insurance Services last week released the results of its long-awaited study of competitiveness in the state’s insurance market. While the report found competition under the...
NAMIC Applauds Passage of Ky. Laws to Clean Up Statute Misconceptions
Mar 23 2005 // The National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies has applauded passage of new laws by the Kentucky General Assembly to clean up misconceptions in existing statutes. Prior to adjourning Kentucky lawmakers passed House...
HORACE MANN EXIT UPHELD:
Mar 21 2005 // Horace Mann Educators Corp. did not violate any law or regulation in 2001 when, as part of its plan to exit the Massachusetts auto insurance market, it transferred its best exclusive representative producers and their auto...
Purchasing Group Helps Auto Dealers Cope with Workers’ Comp
Mar 21 2005 // Workers’ compensation insurance is problematic across the nation and legislatures in many states, including Texas and Oklahoma, are currently considering bills aimed at increasing the quality of workers’ comp...
FARMERS TO LOWER RATES FOR COLO. AUTO CUSTOMERS:
Mar 21 2005 // Farmers Insurance Group of Companies announced it will lower rates for its auto customers in the state of Colorado. Effective April 1, 2005, Farmers’ customers in Colorado will see a rate decrease that will average...
Operation Scorpion Nets Nine Suspects
Mar 21 2005 // Authorities arrested nine auto body shop owners and employees, charging them with various felony counts of insurance fraud following “Operation Scorpion,” a joint investigation by California Department of...
Calif. Trio Arrested for Auto Insurance Fraud
Mar 18 2005 // On March 16, investigators from the Fresno County Urban Organized Auto Insurance Fraud Task Force and officers from the Stockton Police Department arrested Amberjeet Kaur Gill (aka Amber Gill, Amber Jeet Kaur Gill,...
Mich. Lawmakers Pass Bill to Repeal State Helmet Law, According to AAA Michigan
Mar 17 2005 // Michigan lawmakers on Thursday passed Senate Bill 297, which repeals the state’s 36-year-old mandatory motorcycle helmet law. It is estimated that the repeal will result in 22 additional fatalities each year, along...
ABRA Auto Body & Glass Adds Mo. Franchise
Mar 16 2005 // ABRA Auto Body & Glass, a Minneapolis-based damaged vehicle repair company, announced the opening of its ninetieth repair center today. Located in Lee’s Summit, Mo., the franchise was awarded to Don Kahan, owner...
Mass. Auto Insurance Task Force Promises Reform Package by June
Mar 15 2005 // A task force appointed by Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney last spring has concluded that the state’s private passenger auto insurance system is heading for a crash and has promised to produce a legislative reform...
N.Y. Auto Industry Restarts Stalled Drive to Reform Vicarious Leasing Liability Law
Mar 14 2005 // Auto leasing interests in New York are renewing their battle against the state’s vicarious liability law that they say has demolished the car leasing industry in the state. The United Auto Workers (UAW), the New York...
St. Petersburg Family Arrested for Faking $85,000 Auto Accident Claim
Mar 14 2005 // A St. Petersburg, Fla. couple and a relative are facing felony insurance fraud charges after state investigators determined they fraudulently collected $39,000 from their insurance coverage stemming from a staged...
R&SA Confirms Plan to Sell U.S. Non-Standard Auto Unit
Mar 14 2005 // While the U.K.’s Royal & SunAlliance moved out of the red in 2004 (See IJ Web site March 10), the company is still committed to further reforms of its U.S. operations, R&SA-USA. It has already significantly...
